LITTLE ROCK – The Pulaski County Master Gardener’s long-term project at Pinnacle Mountain
State Park has nabbed one of the state’s top honors, the 2018 Master Gardener Project
of the Year among counties with 51 members or more.

The project, which began in 1990, has served to both beautify the park, located at
the northwestern reaches of Little Rock, as well as educate visitors and the staff
at Pinnacle Mountain, said Melody Parsley, former chair of the Pulaski County Master
Gardeners.

“Master Gardeners are only there twice a month, but the park staff get questions every
day,” Parsley said. “Our primary goal with the project was to highlight Arkansas native
plants.

“Our other goal, of course, was to educate the staff so that they can answer questions
when we’re not there, as well as to educate our Master Gardeners themselves,” she
said. “So it’s a multifaceted project that I think is somewhat unique in Arkansas.”

Parsley was chairman of the Pulaski County organization in 2017, when the application
for the 2018 Project of the Year was submitted. She rotated out of the position in
January, 2018.

County 76 is the Master Gardener organization that unites Master Gardener organizations
throughout Arkansas. Within the organization, the Triple R Committee — which focuses
on recruitment, retention and recognition of Master Gardeners throughout Arkansas
— manages nominations for eight state-level awards each year.

Debbie Howell, County 76 Triple R project chair, said the committee currently has
19 members. After nominations are collected from organizations throughout the state
each year, committee members review the submissions to ensure they have met all relevant
criteria; if a submission is missing anything, the committee contacts the submitting
organization. If not, it is forwarded on to out-of-state judges, who review the submissions
anonymously.

“The judges are typically directors of Master Gardener programs in other states,”
Howell said. “This year, we had judges in Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.”

Entries are judges according to a point system, and the winners are determined strictly
according to that system, Howell said.

According to the application Parsley submitted to County 76, the project began in
1990, as a butterfly and hummingbird demonstration garden featuring available native
plants.

Ironically, native plants were something of a rare commodity in local nurseries when
the project first began. Over the life of the project, members of the Pulaski County
club obtained plants and seeds from private gardens and approved park specimens.

The project eventually evolved into seven separate garden beds, covering more than
3,900 square feet, with more than 110 species native to Arkansas represented throughout.
The project also involves an extensive irrigation system, which members of the Pulaski
County project designed, installed and maintained.

Twenty-seven members of the Pulaski County Master Gardeners have participated in the
project in 2017; they and other members have contributed hundreds of volunteer hours
every year since the project’s inception, including nearly 690 in 2016, and nearly
725 hours in the first seven months of 2017 alone, when the application was submitted
for review.

The impact of the project are believed to be substantial, given the number of recorded
visitors to Pinnacle Mountain State Park, which averages about 191 visitors each day.
The project includes a comprehensive plant labeling system, an ongoing photo album
of current specimens on display and more.

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